1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to detection devices, electronic apparatuses, and robots.
2. Related Art
The detection devices disclosed in JP-A-60-135834 and JP-A-2008-164557 are known as detection devices that detect an external force. The application of such detection devices in tactile sensors for touch panels, robots, and so on is under consideration.
The detection device disclosed in JP-A-60-135834 is configured using a pressure receiving sheet on the rear surface of which cone-shaped protrusions are disposed in an essentially uniform manner, and pressure distributions are detected from the amounts by which the protrusions deform.
The detection device disclosed in JP-A-2008-164557, meanwhile, includes displaceable contactors on its surface, and also includes a plurality of pressure-sensitive elements that detect and output displacements of the contactors at detection points.
With the detection device disclosed in JP-A-60-135834, the amount by which the protrusions deform is computed from images captured by a camera, resulting in a high amount of computations; this leads to a longer time being required for pressure detection. Furthermore, pressure exerted on the measurement surface (rear surface) of the pressure receiving sheet that acts in directions within the surface (that is, a sliding force) cannot be measured.
On the other hand, with the detection device disclosed in JP-A-2008-164557, although pressure exerted on the measurement surface (front surface) that acts in directions within the surface (that is, a sliding force) can be calculated through computations, a long time is required to obtain an output value in the case where there are many detection points for a single contactor.
Accordingly, both the detection devices disclosed in JP-A-60-135834 and JP-A-2008-164557 have a problem in that they cannot achieve both a function for quickly detecting the presence/absence of pressure and a function for detecting the distribution, direction, and intensity of an external pressure with high accuracy.